Nina Levine - Fierce

“My eyes are up here,” he drawled, and when I lifted my eyes to his, I took in the sexy grin plastered on his face.

He knew how he was affecting me; no doubt he had the ladies lined up.  Not being able to come up with a witty comeback, I did the only thing that came to mind.  I poked my tongue at him.  Yeah, real mature, but he did things to me; one of them being that he screwed with my mind and turned me into a hot mess, unable to process my thoughts quickly.

He surprised me by laughing.  It was one of those genuine laughs that made his eyes crinkle, and that sent another jolt through me.  Crinkled eyes were another turn on for me.  Weird, I know, but there was just something about a man whose laughter touched his whole body.  It was all tied up with my feelings about family, happiness and my desire to build a life with a man who also valued those things.  Crinkled eyes symbolised those things to me.

I took a sip of Gatorade and waited for him to talk.  He indicated for me to drink more so I did.  Finally he spoke.  “The job’s yours if you want it.”

I nearly spat my drink all over him.  “What?  Why?”  Again, sentences were not forthcoming.

“I was a dick to you last night.  You were right; I don’t know you.  If you say you can handle asshole customers, I’ll give you a shot.”

Right.  Dick last night.  Asshole customers.  Another shot.  I churned through these thoughts much faster; the banana must be working.  And then another thought occurred to me.

“How did you know where I live?”

“I asked Amy.  You gave her your address last night to give to the cabbie.  Now babe, focus, because I’ve got another appointment to get to.  Do you want the job or not?”

“Are you always this bossy?”

“Yeah, it gets shit done.”

“No, I meant with women.  Do you boss every woman around that you meet?”

“I meet a lot of women, and yeah, I boss them around.  But if you’re asking whether I boss around the women whose homes I visit and who flash their ass at me on that visit, I couldn’t tell you because I’ve never visited a woman at her home before.”

There was that crinkle at his eyes again; the one that gave me butterflies in my stomach.  He was watching me intently and it put me even more off my game.

“Well, just for the record, I’ve never flashed my ass at a man I just met.  Not until today, anyway.”

Oh, good Lord, his eyes crinkled even more if that was possible, and then he smiled which brought out his dimple, and I was completely gone.  “I get that about you, babe.  I’ve no doubt that if you weren’t hungover, I wouldn’t have been treated to any of what I’ve seen this morning.”

Of course, just at a crucial moment in the conversation, my phone started ringing.  It was where I’d left it last night, on the kitchen bench, and Scott stood up straight away to retrieve it.  He grinned at me as he passed it to me.  I wasn’t sure why he was grinning like that so I ignored it and checked to see who was calling.  Seeing that it was Cassie, my friend who took me out last night, I hit the button to silence the phone.  She was a have-a-chat and would keep me on the phone for ages.  Placing the phone on the table, I looked up to find Scott leaning against the bench with his arms folded, still grinning at me.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“What the fuck is that song you’ve got for a ring tone?”

“Holding Out For A Hero by Bonnie Tyler.  Why, what’s wrong with it?” I asked, indignantly.  I loved that song.

“How old is that song?”

“So I like songs from the eighties.  I also love the nineties.  You got something to say about that?”

He held up his hands in a defensive gesture.  “Wouldn’t dare, babe.”

“Good.  Now, about this job.  I don’t know what I was thinking last night.  It must have been the alcohol.  I don’t want to work in a strip club, sorry.  But thank you for making the effort to come here.”

He nodded, and then pushed off from the bench.  “That’s what I figured, but thought I’d let you make that call.”  He checked his watch.  “I’ve got to head.”

I followed him down the hall, to the front door, making sure to check out his ass as I walked behind him.  I figured I’d never get to see it again, so may as well enjoy it while I could.  It was just my luck though, that he whipped around to face me just as he stepped outside, and caught the direction of my stare.

Chuckling again, he reminded me, “My eyes are up here.”

Throwing caution to the wind, I muttered, “Yeah, but they’re nowhere near as nice to look at.”  Holy shit, I couldn’t believe I actually said that.  I never flirted that openly with a man; usually I was too shy.

A slow smile formed across his face.  “Never met anyone like you.  You continue to surprise the shit outta me.”

I smiled back.  “Yeah, well I’ve never met anyone like you either.”

“Later, sweetheart,” he said, and left me standing there, drinking in the sexiness that was Scott Cole as he walked to his bike.  My head still ached, although not as bad as earlier, and my stomach was still ill, but my happiness levels were at an all time high.  It was just a damn shame that this was the last time I’d see him.

Harlow

After Scott left, I spent a couple of hours lounging in front of the television, wishing for the time to pass quickly.  The sooner I got through this day, the sooner I’d feel better.  Mum rang me just after twelve o’clock to see how I was doing and to tell me that she picked up some more catering jobs.  And then I remembered that Cassie had tried to call me earlier so I dialed her number.

She answered straight away.  “Did you just wake up?”  She sounded as awful as I felt.

“No, I was woken up by a visit from Scott earlier this morning.”

“Scott, as in the guy from the club last night? The one who you met at the vet?”

“Yeah, him.  He came to offer me a job, but I said no.  I don’t think I want to work in a strip club.  Do you think I should have accepted it?  We do need the money -”

“Stop second guessing yourself.  And no, Harlow, I can’t see you working in a strip club. We’ve known each other for what, six months now?  You’ve become my best friend, and I need to tell you that it’s time for you to chase your dreams now.  You gave up everything to move here to help your Mum, and you did help her, but she’s getting the café back on its feet now, so you should stop settling for any old job and go for what you want.”

“I’m your best friend?”  A warm sensation settled in my tummy.

“Yeah, you are,” she replied, and I could hear the affection in her voice.

“You’re mine too, girl.”

“Oh my goodness, I feel like we just agreed to go steady, dude.”

I laughed, but got serious when I said, “Cass, I haven’t had a best friend for a long time now.  Not since Dale cheated on me with Anna.  He stole my best friend from me.”

“No, they stole each other from you.  She was just as much to blame as him, that bitch.  Actually, I think what she did to you was worse.  Best friends don’t sleep with each other’s boyfriends.  First rule of best friend club.”

“What’s the second rule?” I teased her.

She was straight on it though.  “Second rule is, if you hate someone, I hate them too.  And third rule is, I’ve always got your back.  You need me, you call me.  I don’t care what time of day it is.  I live by that quote, it’s the friends you can call at four am that matter.”

“I think I love you even more than I loved you before I rang you.  And I’m even feeling better too.”

“Well, you just remember that.  And don’t forget that I’m a jealous bitch too.”

Laughing, I said, “I know.  I’ve seen you in action over Ben.  God forbid any woman that makes a move on your man.”

“Yeah, my husband knows how it is.  And I feel the same way about you.”

I sighed.  “Seriously, Cass, you’ve made my day.  You always manage to cheer me up when I’m feeling down.”

“That’s what I’m here for.  Now, back to your job situation.  I know you’ve always wanted to pursue your art, and you’re a damn good artist so I think you should look into ways to get your art out there.”

“I don’t think it’s something that can earn me a living.”

“You won’t know unless you try though, will you?”

“Mmmm...”

“Mmmm’s your way of fobbing me off, and I’m not letting you do that this time.  We need to get your paintings into a gallery.”

“Oh, God, you’re taking over, aren’t you?”  Memories of the time that Cassie had harassed a car dealer into selling a car to me for less than he wanted to came to mind.

“Think of it as me being your manager.  Christ, I need something to keep me occupied while Ben has me stuck at home being his Stepford wife.”

“You’re the farthest thing from a freaking Stepford wife.  Ben could only hope for you to be submissive but we all know that you wear the pants in that relationship.”

“Okay, okay, you’re right.  Anyway, leave it with me; I’ll get you into a gallery.  You just start painting.”

I could hear the excitement in her voice.  Cassie loved a mission.  “It’s all yours, but I may need to get a part time job in the meantime.”

“Do what you’ve gotta do, but like I said, get painting.”

“Yes, boss,” I promised, and we finished our conversation.

I spent the next few hours pampering myself, hoping it would negate the effects of the hangover.  I showered and gave myself a facial, pedicure and manicure.  At the end of it all, I felt a million times better.  So, it was on that high that I received a phone call from my mum that shot all my plans to shit.

“Harlow, honey, one of the fridges at the café died.  I’m rushing around trying to sort all the food into the other fridge, but I’m pretty busy and could do with a hand serving customers while I take care of it.”  She sounded frazzled.

“Sure, Mum.  Give me ten minutes, and I’ll be there.”

“You’re a lifesaver.  Thank you,” she replied, and hung up.

I quickly threw on a dress, grabbed my keys and bag, and drove the short distance to Mum’s café.  We lived about six minutes from it, which I loved because traffic and I didn’t see eye to eye.  There were way too many idiots on the road, and too many road rules to follow.

Mum’s body sagged a little when she saw me walk through the front door.  The tension just whooshed out of her.  Being such a strong, independent woman since the day my father died when I was fifteen, she had a tendency to take everything on by herself and hated to ask for help.

“Thanks for coming,” she greeted me, and gave me a hug.

I grabbed an apron and shooed her with my hands, “Go.  Sort your fridges.  I’ll take care of the customers.”

She saluted me.  “Yes, honey.  I’m gone.”  And with that, she darted out to the back kitchen.

I spent the next few hours making coffees and serving food.  It was a fairly busy afternoon, and the time flew by.  Mum dealt with her fridge storage issues and then made calls to find out about getting the fridge fixed.  Just after five thirty she appeared at the counter looking upset.  I’d just locked the front door after seeing the last customer out.

“What’s wrong?”  I asked her with a sinking feeling.  Mum was such a practical person; not much made her look that down.

“I need a new fridge and that’s going to cost thousands.  Thousands that I don’t have.”

“Shit.”

She exhaled loudly.  “Just when things were turning around.  Why is it always two steps forward and five steps back?  For once, I just want things to be easy.”

I went to her and grabbed her in a huge hug.  “We’ll work it out, Ma.  We always do.”

She clung to me for a few minutes and then pulled away, exhausted eyes searching mine.  “I’m not sure how this time, Harlow.  It feels like we’re at the end of our rope.  And I’m not sure I have it in me to fight anymore.  I’m sick of rolling with the punches.  I’m black and blue from them.”

My heart cracked a little more for her.  She’d done so much for me in my life; made so many sacrifices.  It was my turn now to do that for her.  And I knew I had at least one option open to me.

“I’ll help.  I think I can get a night job and that will help pay for the fridge.  But I need to go there now before they give the job to someone else.  Will you be okay to close up by yourself?”

She nodded, relief flooding her face.  “Thank you,” she almost whispered, and I could tell she was fighting tears.